Senator Dick Black is the second Republican to join Republicans’ race-to-the-right primary to succeed Frank Wolf, and he and Barbara Comstock have one thing in common: a brand of extremely dysfunctional politics that would make the gridlock in Washington worse and hurt Virginia families.

The Virginian-Pilot editorial board called Black an “anti-abortion extremist,” after he consistently focused on the wrong priorities in the legislature. Black made a name for himself as one of the original prosecutors of the war on women instead of working across the aisle to solve the transportation crisis or invest in education or grow Virginia’s economy. Black even went so far as to send plastic fetuses—yes, plastic fetus dolls—to his colleagues.

“Dick Black’s entry into Virginia’s 10th district race guarantees a sprint to the right, as both Comstock and Black rush to prove their allegiance to the same dysfunctional fringe of their party responsible for the shutdown of our nation’s government,” said David Bergstein of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Comstock and Black are the kind of Republicans who would make Frank Wolf cringe – prioritizing their radical social agenda that includes a War on Women – instead of bringing folks together to help businesses grow jobs or solve the problems that matter to northern Virginians. It’s exactly Black and Comstock’s kind of divisive dysfunction that is standing in the way of solutions in Washington, and in Congress Black and Comstock would make the gridlock even worse.”

Black Sent Pink Plastic Fetus Dolls to Colleagues in State Legislature. In 2003, Black sent members of the Senate pink plastic fetus dolls with a letter asking, “Would you kill this child?” [Associated Press, 2/05/03]

Black Voted to Require Transvaginal Ultrasounds for Women. In 2012, Black voted for a bill “that requires women to have a ‘transvaginal ultrasound’ before undergoing abortions.” The bill passed out of committee 8 to 7. [HB 462, 2/23/12; Associated Press, 2/15/12]